French composer Thierry Pecou was in the Capital recently and enthralled the audience with his soulful music. He speaks to Shalini Saksena about his experience with working with Indians artistes and composing some great tunes
Tell us about yourself.
I am a composer and a pianist. I direct an ensemble of musicians called Ensemble Variance. I do what is called contemporary music which is a contemporary tradition of classical western music. I write music, compose orchestra for choirs and operas.
What is Ensemble Variance all aboutIJ
It is an encounter between Western classical and other traditions. Through this platform, we are able to collaborate with musicians. We have collaborated with India, with the Chinese musicians, Turkey and even South America, this is all different. Yet, at the same time, the aim is always the same — to play music with other cultures.
What role does music play in strengthening ties between two countriesIJ
It is not a juxtaposition of two traditions. But to try and find out what is common between our cultures and create a third thing out of this. I think it is very important to do these kinds of projects. We live in a globalised world but this tends to be an economic one. But when it comes to people this is different. We want to send a message to the people— globalisation can be a cultural one as well.
What was the composition you played tonight aboutIJ
The concert was in three parts. It began with the Indian artistes playing classical music. In the second part — there were two small parts from our French musicians, one from a British composer and the other by an American. Then we joined forces — three Indian and three from France who performed the piece that was written by me and part was composed by the Indians.
Is this your first trip to IndiaIJ
Second. The first one was a year back. I came with one musician from Ensemble Variance, a clarinet player. We came to feel the country and meet some Indian musicians. We met some musicians here in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. We got on famously with some of the musicians we met and chose them to collaborate with them for the second trip.
How does music transcend languageIJ
For me personally, we had to speak with each other in English. But luckily for us, two of the Indian musicians spoke French so it was easy. The good thing about music is that even if you don’t speak the language of that country, it has a language of its own. Just by playing a tune one can make the other artiste understand what you want. There is another level of communication that is at play here. For the audience, the magic of music is that it communicates by itself.
Have you heard some of the songs from BollywoodIJ
Yes. But it will be difficult to pick a song or a tune. It would be wrong to comment on something that I have not heard enough. But there is some good music from Bollywood. What I understand is the Indian classical which is a correspondent to the music that I play in my own field. This is what I enjoy the most.
People say that classical music should be played the way it is and not be given a twist. What is your take on thisIJ
The thought process that classical should not be tampered with is true as is the thinking that for classical music to survive it needs to be given a twist keeping in mind the changing times. What I noticed while working with young Indian artistes is that they have a strong classical backing. This indicates that they have had a very strict education of their music that is very traditional. At the same time, they have the ability to do something different and take classical music in another direction.
What have you taken away from here as a composerIJ
To work with Indian musicians and see the way they work. I come from a tradition where everything is very precisely written. I had an idea that while Indian musicians have a lot of knowledge but when they play they improvise. I was surprised that we are so similar. Also, Indians work in a relaxed but professional manner. We need to learn how to do this.